The New Life of Lazy Messiah
by Amatsu Kagaseo
Summary: He doesn't know why he and Shinjiro-san ended up in an early 20th-century Tokyo but if Fate allows both of them to live after all the hardships, he will accept this new life. Too bad he can't recharge his MP3 Player. Now feature Joker.
1. Chapter 1

Yoneda Ikki was a drunkard, that's his opinion of his store's regular. The old man kept spilling the bottles to the point his employer prohibited him from coming here. For some miraculous reasons, he convinced Uchida-san to let him buy booze and the latter agreed. He and Shinjiro-san couldn't understand why but as long as it wouldn't get them fired, both of them should ignore him.

"Ah, Arisato-san!" A cheerful voice called out for him. He turned around to see the ever energetic Tsubaki Takamura, one of Yoneda's 'little daughters' as he proclaimed. She was pleasant enough to get the ever brooding Shinjiro Aragaki to talk with her, something only Akihiko-senpai could in the past.

"Good morning, Tsubaki-san. Are you here for _it_?"

"Yup!"

"Geez, it's just 7 in the morning. Lower your voice for once will ya?" Shinjiro grumbled from the booth, preparing the ingredients. The girl pouted at him, prompting Shinjiro to sigh and raise his hands up in defeat. "Alright alright, you can do anything you want."

"Ehehe. Ah, Arisato-san please don't mind me. Just get it please."

He had done already. Boss always told him to leave the box at the counter when opening the store. He handed it to Tsubaki, who happily received it and placed a stack of cash on the counter before leaving. He waved goodbye at her before returning to his work.

Half an hour later, the first batch of customers arrived. Their orders were the usual: ramen, takoyaki, oyakodon and natto with rice. Nothing was impossible for the mighty Shinjiro, after all, he was the best cook anyone could find in this Teito. He mostly delivered drinks and booze and sometimes helped his senior with the food.

Their new lives were enjoyable. No Dark Hour, no Shadows, no hippy with revolver, no Nyx altogether. S.E.E.S, the closest to family he ever had. His grandfather and sister had abandoned him but S.E.E.S didn't. They stayed with him until his death. His smile rose as he reminisced about the times he had spent with the gang. The hunt for Fuuka's information, Yakushima, the guide trip for Aigis, more and more.

"What are you smiling about, Minato? The lunch won't wait for you." Shinjiro's voice snapped him out of his thoughts. Right, that first.

* * *

Yoneda looked at the teen duo through a hidden camera placed inside the store and the document folder in his hand. Inside was the background information of Minato Arisato and Shinjiro Aragaki, who two months earlier had appeared from nowhere and happened to be nearby the Uchida Liquor during a Kouma attack to save the owner. From then, the middle-aged man accepted the duo to be his full-time employees and provided the store as the place to stay for them. Uchida had even gone so far as to ask Yoneda to forge fake papers for them. That alone spoke how grateful he was to the teens.

Yoneda agreed but with the condition to install the hidden devices inside the building to monitor the suspicious young men. Uchida was hesitant at first but eventually relented. Through his connections with the Kanzaki Heavy Industries, he had the cameras made with Reiroku scanner installed. No ordinary humans could stand against the demons and come out alive, let along unscathed like the boys. Minato and Shinjiro must have the 'potentials', they have to.

He was correct. Both Minato and Shinjiro had considerably higher-than-average amount of Reiroku with the former completely exceeding the previous statistics, even that of Iris. The next thing to do was to wait for a perfect opportunity to get them to join him. On the side note, he turned on the large screen and watched the footage from that day. Blue flames spurred from them and the Koumas were either burned to death or mangled by an invisible force. For now, Yoneda deduced that the flames were their Reiroku taking shape.

"They are certainly qualified, yet no explanation of how they appeared except the report of a massive tear of dimension happening very brief. If they came out from that thing, who are they really? So many questions left unanswered."

He turned to another page, which was showing 'Ichirou Ogami' and 'Yuichi Kayama'. Earlier, he had instructed a girl to pick up the young Ensign from Navy for him. Yoneda hoped Sakura wouldn't cause a scene with her eccentric behavior. The last thing he wanted in the day was hearing complaints. But before that.

"*urk* Uchida's sake is still the best!"

* * *

"Good work, my boys." Uchida said to the teens as their shift was over. "Here, take these."

"Huh, tickets? For what?" Shinjiro asked, taking one of the pair. "Great Imperial Theater? That big ass place you once took us to?"

"Indeed. Initially, these are for me and my wife but she is sick right now and I have to stay with her so you kids go and enjoy."

"…Thank you very much." Minato quietly spoke, earning a pat in the back from the man.

"It's nothing really! Go go, before it's too crowded!"

"Tch. You heard the old man, let's go Minato."

Shinjiro put on his peacoat and beanie while Minato changed to his Gekkoukan uniform. Those were their only decent outfits and they attracted a lot of stares from the bystanders due to that reason. Shinji sent glares back while Minato kept his poker face. Soon, the duo reached the place, Great Imperial Theater. True to Uchida's words, there was already a huge crowed at the front door.

"Damn, that's one long line there."

"No kidding."

Both of them sighed before taking spots in the line. The line was slow to advance and Minato knew the reason. The ticket clipper was noticeably clumsy and appeared to be discontent with his job. Must be a worker that was forced to take the job, he mused. Eventually it's almost his turn, just behind a group of loudmouths. They seemed to have agitated the poor clipper guy.

"It's you who should apologize to – Hurk!"

It's Yoneda who slammed the notebook on the guy's head to shut his mouth. That sounded hurt a lot but he couldn't help but agree with it. The number one rule of being an employee was to be polite to the customers, no matter what.

"I'm the manager of this theater and I'm very sorry. This guy just started working today so please forgive him on my behalf. Ogami! Apologize to him!"

"I am…sorry…" The worker, Ogami, complied with a very restrained tone. The leader of the group huffed at him and went further into the theater along with his goons. Now was Minato and Shinjiro's turn.

"It's okay. Take your time." Minato offered him an understanding smile. "I know that feeling."

Their seats were in the second row so it's nice to see the play this close, which both of them didn't understand at all. Shinjiro immediately fell asleep while Minato straightened his head to try finding why the audience loved it and the actresses so much. Back in Iwatodai, the closest to a play he had ever seen was the 'Black Swan' Mitsuru had invited him to watch with her. Even then, he didn't find it interesting at all. In the end, he dozed off.

"!"

Minato's eyes snapped wide as he felt a very intense glare toward him. The people around him still watched attentively at the stage and he couldn't find the source. His companion was still sleeping like a log and his snores miraculously didn't bother anyone. After stretching his arms a few times, he went to sleep again.

Unknown to him and most spectators, a certain actress had noticed his, and Shinjiro's, disinterest in her performance yet still bought the tickets to come to this theater, the blue-haired boy in particular as she could feel a tremendous power underneath that poker face and the fact that he at least had tried to stay focus. Perhaps he was the culprit behind those power spikes recently when a Kouma or Wakiji outbreak occurred. That question would be solved later but now, she was angry at him for daring to sleep in her play.


	2. Chapter 2

Minato and Shinjiro's common Battle Theme is **Wait and See** while each respective one is **Our Moment **and **Unavoidable Battle**.

Important Note: Due to many reasons, I will merge 'Phantom Thief of Capital City' to this fic. How Akira/Joker in Teito will be rewritten but it won't be that different to the original story.

* * *

Sakura Shinguji had a 'love at the first sight' cliché crush toward the theater's new ticket clipper, much to her embarrassment. Aside from Iris who could pretty much read her mind, the Sannin Musume, especially Yuri, and even Maria-san could see it in her face.

"Muuuuuu…" Sakura hugged her legs in the corner, sulking. A long, big round of applause from the auditorium made the girl jump from her spot and hurry to call Tsubaki to help her with the goodbyes. She looked at the hallway where Ogami had been to with a sad look. She understood why he was upset but for the sake of everyone, she couldn't tell him the truth, at least not this soon.

"Ah!" Someone bumped into her. Sakura turned around to see a tall man with the most menacing eyes she had ever seen staring at her. "I-I AM SORRY!"

"…Tch."

He stared at Sakura a little more intense and a dry smirk rose on his face.

"Let me guess: boy troubles?"

"W-W-W-W-What?! Yes – I mean, NO!"

"Haha, whatever you say. Good luck with whoever that guy is, you are too cute to turn down."

Sakura's face reddened heavily at the compliment. Before she could retort, the man disappeared into the crowd. There was a blue-haired boy offering an apologetic smile, probably that man's friend.

"I'm sorry. Shinjiro-san is always like that. Once you know him, he is very reliable and friendly."

"I-I see. Wait a minute, are you Minato Arisato?"

Said boy was surprised that someone knew his full name but nodded. Seeing his silence as approval to continue, Sakura said.

"Tsubaki-chan and Yuri-san mentioned you a lot. I'm Sakura Shinguji, pleased to make acquainted with you!"

"Likewise, Shinguji-san."

"Ah, just call me Sakura please."

Minato chuckled lightly.

"Well then, Sakura-san."

* * *

Akira Kurusu wiped the sweat from his forehead as the clock reached 8:00 pm. The guests had already left and he, along with other workers, were cleaning the stage. Despite how the audience looked very nice, some weren't. They spilled drinks and even the food on the floor and worse, there was a used condom. He never thought this era would have such thing but it was.

"Urgh…" Akira groaned as he picked up the dreaded object and threw it to the dumpster. He glanced at the new guy, who had even more difficult in doing his task. He couldn't blame him; from what he had heard from Yuri, Ogami was a Navy Officer that somehow got transferred to this place and old man Yoneda immediately demoted him to a ticket clipper. As the punishment for 'talking back at the guests', Ogami had to do the janitor work as well.

'Sucks to be that guy.' He mused. Three months ago, Akira found himself in midst of this Taisho-era Tokyo after his unexpected death. Not knowing where to go, he had to stay under the awning of the biggest building nearby, which was this theater. With some persuasion, he managed to get the owner of this place to accept him as a worker in exchange of getting a place to stay and eat. Next month, he had accidentally, not really since he was curious and wandering into the hangar, stumbled upon an attack caused by a race of Demon called 'Kouma'. Three colored, ugly machines saved his ass (while he didn't need it) from them and Yoneda forced him to keep this a secret. Akira had no problem with it as he had experienced the consequence of sticking his nose into something that he absolutely shouldn't have.

Damn that detective.

"Akira-san, what's wrong?" Kasumi tapped his back gently and asked, seeing him staring at the wall for no reason. Akira shook his head to dismiss his train of thoughts and smiled at the woman.

"No, it's nothing. Just a little headache. I shouldn't have walked under the rain for too long."

"Mou, that's what I keep telling you not to do. Stay here, I will be back." Kasumi told him before heading to the diner room. He felt a little dizzy but not enough to call it headache. However, he did feel a strong reaction from Arsene earlier. Usually his other self would do that to alert him from a high-leveled and potentially dangerous Shadow. But as he had investigated throughout these months, there was no such creature in this world and his phone was out of battery long ago so he couldn't access to the MetaNav.

'A Persona-User? Arsene did warn me about Akechi's Robin Hood.'

Activating Third Eye, Akira trailed his eyes across the auditorium to find any trace that could be useful. He found not one but two glows indicating of Persona-Users. His head followed the trails and they ran to the front gate. However, one of them was very clear and it led to…the blue-haired boy around his age, who was chatting with Sakura.

'This familiar feeling. A Wild Card like me?'

"I'm back! Hmm? Who are you looking so intensely at, Akira-san? Ara, a girl I presume?" Kasumi suppressed a laugh as she followed his gaze and then couldn't restrain herself. "You can't do that, Akira-san! Sakura likes Ogami-san already!"

"…You of all people should know that I'm not interested in that kind of stuff, not now at least." Akira pinched the bridge of his nose, sighing in defeat. He had never thought the ever level-headed and mature Kasumi Fujii would joke. Guess this was another side of her, he mused.

* * *

"What took you so long?"

"Had some issues to deal with – Do you hear it?"

Shinjiro blinked his eyes and closed them to let the suspicious noise sound clearer. He smirked.

"Just the best thing I need right now. You go, Minato?" He reached his coat and opened it slightly, revealing a gun strapped on it. His junior snorted and did the same, showing the same gun on his waist.

"No weapons eh, Senpai? You sure?"

"Eh, no problem. I spent my second year butting head against freaking _tanks_."

Two of them headed to the source of the noise. At the Ueno District. A bunch of Koumas was harassing the people, destroying the street in the process. Minato yelled at them to get out of the area while Shinjiro opened the first shot by having Castor to ram the nearest one to death. The knight then pulverized the creature until it was nothing but a pile of fresh and purple blood.

"Orpheus!"

Pressing the Evoker to the right side of his head, Minato called for his Persona. Orpheus Telos materialized and waved its hand to invoke Thunder Reign. The glowing ball of lightning built up in front of the bewildered demons and exploded, frying alive the first one and then the sparks doing the same with the rest.

Not wanting to be left out, Shinjiro commanded Castor to unleash Akasha Arts. The shockwave blew away everything around him, including the Koumas. After that, only a handful survived. Two former SEES members looked at each other.

"It?"

"Definitely."

Both pointed the guns to their foreheads and pressed the trigger while shouting.

"**Scorching Earth!**"

Castor's horse howled and twirled its head while Orpheus Telos played its tune. The rest of the demons were both shocked and tore apart by the fire-infused Vorpal Blade. Somehow, the entire district survived the Fusion Spell with minimal destruction. Shinjiro dusted his coat and grinned.

"Man, it has been like, what, two weeks since our last workout like this."

"Yeah…" Minato heard the sound of steam engines not far from here. His unique existence had enhanced his senses. "Senpai, it's _them_."

"Already? Gee, we must have wasted lots of time. Let's bait out."

They quickly ran to the dark alley nearby and used it to navigate back to their place. Meanwhile, three humanoid machines with pink, purple and black color respectively arrived at the scene and found a mass of dead Kouma corpses vaporizing. Their hatches opened and two young girls jumped out.

"Again…"

"What do you mean?"

The girl with short brown hair huffed and took a good look at the area. "Someone has been exterminated our targets before us recently, even before you joined, Sakura-san."

"While he or she did all the job, credits are still given to us." The last one, a foreigner, came out from her machine and explained. "We cannot let this continue. At this rate, we the Kagekidan are just a bunch of glory-stealer."

"I-I see."

The girl with ponytail said with an understanding look.

* * *

Yoneda stared at the display screen, listening to the reports from the operators. He pressed a button on the table, another video tab appeared and overlapped with the current one. It was showing two young men using their powers to obliterate the demonic creatures. The old general paused the videos at the moments the boys pressing their guns to their heads and the next thing, a pillar or blue fogs rose up and formed the 'guardians', who made the short work of the Koumas.

"Kasumi, analyze the power level of them."

"Roger."

Soon, a tab of statistics appeared on the screen. Yoneda looked closer and was shocked to see the numbers surpassing those from the girls. A burst of Reiroku was about 100 or 200 at best, here, these boys archived above 600, which was ridiculous to say the least. He immediately dialed Count Hanakouji and informed him of this.

[Are you sure, Yoneda? An arrest warrant is not something to use sparingly.]

"We don't know what their intention is and their interventions, while have kept the damage under control, can catch a lot of attention. Good thing that the Koumas mostly attack at night."

'[Hmm… You have a point. However, you should approach them first. If it fails, we will resort to this. Getting a warrant takes time so even if both of us agree with your idea, it will have to be this Saturday at least to get the authorization. Not to mention, if they are that powerful, I doubt a mere handful of police officers can restrain them. At worst case scenario, we will have to contact the army OR use your force.]

"I understand. I will try."

[For the peace of Teito.]


	3. Chapter 3

Sakura Wars' English Patch is finally out guys!

* * *

At a secluded cave, a man in purple garment sneered at the floating flames. Once again, all of his time and effort was for naught. The Teikoku Kagekidan hadn't reappeared since their very first encounter with his Wakijis. And then _them_, the wrenched human duo that literally appeared from nowhere, went and destroy both Wakijis _and_ Koumas. He must find a way to deal with the boys or else his plan would not succeed.

"You, find a way to deal with them. Do not waste my time resurrecting you."

"Oh, don't fret. After all, I have a bone to pick with them." Said a naked man with the appearance that a normal person would call 'Jesus-wannabe'.

* * *

Minato and Shinjiro continued their jobs as usual. However, there was a new yet very familiar guest that both of them swore to have seen her somewhere. She seemed to be a foreigner, judging from her appearance and accent. There was also a group of bodyguards accompanying her, which took most of the seats at the counter. Minato had to direct other guests to take the sideway seats for the time being.

"Excuse me, is Yamada Uchida here?" The girl spoke in a very aristocratic and confident tone. He recognized it immediately as he had met one in the past, some guy named Nanjo that Mitsuru seemed to know well.

"Sorry, the old man is out. Order or out, you are bothering other people." Shinjiro curtly replied without facing her at all. This of course set her off. The girl slammed her hands on the table and yelled at his senior for his attitude in French.

"_Please excuse him, Shinjiro is not known for being polite._" Minato tried to calm her down. Her attention switched to him in the process.

"_A French speaker, I am amazed. How dare that buffoon talk to me, a Bleumer noble, with that manner?! I will not accept this! I want a duel!_"

'Oh dear…'

Minato glanced at her bodyguards and was surprised that they didn't take any action, meaning they knew this would happen. He would never understand Westerners.

"Hey, um, Shinjiro-senpai. You should apologize to her or else she will, in her words, have a duel with you."

"Huh?" Shinjiro turned at him from the kitchen. "Is she nuts?"

"From her expression and tone, she is serious."

He blinked twice, one at Minato and the other at the fuming foreign girl, and then sighed.

"Fine. Don't want to get kicked out anyways." Said Shinjiro as he grabbed the towel nearby to clean his hands and then walked to the counter. He stared right at the glaring eyes of the girl for a full minute before speaking.

"So, um, sorry about earlier. I am not a, uh, morning person so yeah."

"Hmph! Even though it's a half-hearted apology, I will accept it." The girl said with a huff and then sat down. "Back to the main topic. Will your owner return?"

"He usually passes by to check on everything at 10 o'clock. Do you want to wait for him?" Minato asked politely as Shinjiro had returned to his post.

"I have many more businesses to attend to. Since he is not here to deliver the package to me directly, he will have to ship it to my mansion."

"Alright then. Tell me your address so that I can report back to my employer."

"That is unnecessary. Tell Yamada Uchida about Glycine Bleumer and he will know what to do."

"I see." Minato wrote down her name in the note. "Well then, Miss Bleumer, I wish you a good day."

"Thank you very much. By the way, it's rude for you not to introduce yourself." Glycine flicked her long blonde hair and looked at Minato with a pointed look.

"Minato Arisato. And my co-worker is Shinjiro Aragaki."

"Minato Arisato and Shinjiro Aragaki, I will remember these names." And she was gone along with the bodyguards. The tension in the store immediately disappeared and he let out a long breath in relief. Minato turned to Shinjiro.

"Must you antagonize every new customer we have?"

"What? She started it first and admit it, that girl is annoying as hell."

* * *

Later that day, Minato was asked to deliver the usual stuff to the Theater for Yoneda as today the girls hadn't gone to the store yet and it was 3:00pm already. The trip to Ginza didn't take long but he spent time looking at the busy yet peaceful life of this city. If only SEES was here…

"Ara, isn't it Minato-san?" A girl with short brown hair wearing a set of attire mostly in red greeted him. He didn't realize that he was in front of the Great Imperial Theater.

"Ah Yuri-san, good afternoon. I'm here to deliver this." He handed her the package.

"Aw you don't have to go all the way from Ueno. I was actually about to go retrieve this."

Minato regarded her with a polite smile. He took a look at the building, noticing the new guy yesterday staring at the streets dejectedly.

"Yuri-san, how is the new worker? He seems to have difficulty accustoming with his job."

"You mean Ogami-san? Ah…" Yuri's eyes darted around and then whispered to his ears. "He is a Navy soldier that got transferred to our Theater for 'classified' purpose. I can't disclose more to you but please keep his identity a secret."

"Hmm, I see." Minato nodded. He glanced at his watch; 3:37pm. "Anyway, I need to get back to the store. My shift isn't over yet."

"Oh, since you have traveled all the way to here, let me treat you with some coffee and snacks. Come in, don't be shy."

Before he could even reply, the girl dragged him into the theater.

…

"Shinjiro-senpai will kill me…"

"It will be fiiine. It's not like you can't have a little longer break right?"

Yuri made him sit down on a table in the dining room and then went away to get some snacks she had promised him earlier. Minato hoped Uchida wouldn't cut his salary because of this but what's done was done. On the bright side, he could explore the famous building all he wanted. Shinjiro-senpai loved new stuff, even though his face said otherwise.

"Ah, you are…"

A feminine, elegant voice spoke out behind him. Minato turned around to see a beautiful girl in purple kimono holding a fan. He ignored how revealing it looked, of course. He offered her a smile.

"My name is Minato Arisato, pleased to meet you miss..."

"Oh, how come you don't know my name, the Theater's Top Star?!"

Did he say something offending her? Minato sweatdropped at the sudden change of mood.

"I'm afraid that I have been in Teito for a short time so I didn't get to know its famous people. May I ask for your name?"

"Hmph, at least you have some manners. Unlike that Ensign Ogata." She flicked her hair and regarded him with a confident look. "I am Sumire Kanzaki, daughter to the head of Kanzaki Industries and the Top Star of this Great Imperial Theater!"

"I see. So you are supposed to be the lead actress, Kanzaki-dono?"

"Finally, someone understands! Ohohoho!"

At that moment, the familiar soldier boy walked into the room. Minato noticed him and made a sign that could be translated as 'Help me bro'. It took Ogami a full minute to figure it out and came to his rescue.

"Sumire-kun, you are here." He said. "This is for you." He handed an envelope to the still 'Ohoho'ing Sumire while winking at Minato. The latter nodded and promptly excused himself to get out of the scene. He made it to the kitchen and Yuri was still gathering a plate full of delicious-looking desserts.

"Ah Minato-san! Did I take so long?"

"No, it's okay. I'm just taking a tour around the theater. Just leave it there, I will pick it up later."

"I see. If you get lost, shout and I will be there for you."

"Appreciate it."

Minato found it strange that she allowed him to enter the staff-only areas but shrugged his shoulders, thinking that maybe she was just friendly and trusting of him. He made a turn and went further into the place. There were Secretary Office, Manager Office, Night Watchman's Room, Costume Room, Changing Room and the Storage for the Stage. He would avoid wandering to the 2nd floor and basement so he returned to the kitchen and find something to wrap the snacks before going to dining room. Sumire-san and Ogami had already left so he headed straight to the door.

"Ah, Minato-san! I heard from Yuri that you are here." Tsubaki spoke cheerfully from the counter of the gift shop. She noticed the plastic wrap full of snacks he was holding. "Aw, you are leaving already? I haven't even greeted you properly!"

"It's okay. You and I can talk tomorrow morning." He glanced at the clock and it was 5:05pm now. "I have to get back to the store. The owner will definitely kill me at this rate. See you later, Tsubaki-san."

"Alright. Bye bye Minato-san!"

He was right. Shinjiro-senpai was not amused by his disappearance at all. Said man was standing at the front door and a big stick was on his hand.

"About time. You have a _lot_ to explain."

"I plead the fifth?"

* * *

Akira leveled his gun, AMT AutoMag V, and pressed the trigger. The dummy's head was blown away due to the sheer power of its cartridge, which was the fusion between this era's equivalent to .50 AE and his Persona power. The aftermath shockwave made the remains crumble and fall to the ground. There was also a large hole on the wall behind.

"Kurusu, you went overboard again."

"Sorry. This is the only gun I'm comfortable with."

Maria chided him with a pointed look and shook her head in resignation upon looking at his mess. During last month's mock test, the scientists and Iris had found out an abnormal Reiroku signal inside the theater aside the young girl. Turned out it was their resident worker Akira Kurusu. Said man was confused at their approach and with some intense tests, he was capable of piloting Koubu, which was astonishing to all of them as only female could pilot the machine. However, Akira didn't agree to be part of the squad yet still kept his promise to keep their identity secret. Yoneda decided that Akira Kurusu would be their backup member just like Iris and would employ drastic measure to force him to join them later.

"My ideal weapons? Hmm… Dagger and handgun, revolver and magnum." He presented an exotic-looking dagger and an American-style handgun, which later turned out to be an experimental model that fired _magnum_ round. Maria was initially jealous of him due to this reason but soon relented as even she couldn't handle the AutoMag's massive recoil and only Akira was able to. She relayed this information to the Commander and he handed it to Kanzaki Industries scientist to develop a Koubu with such armaments.

Later that month, Maria frequently found him in the shooting range practicing with his gun. She didn't know how he acquired the ammunition but she assumed that he asked Yoneda. His aim was good and usually, his kill count was higher than Maria's and most of it were headshots. Ayame concluded that Akira would be their backup marksman.

"Tell me, why did you refuse to join the Teikoku Kagekidan?" Maria asked while inserting ammo to her revolver. Akira didn't reply and focused on his aim. "Do you hate killing like Iris?"

"…Why are you suddenly interested in my life?" His tone was cold, Maria nodded. It confirmed that something bad had happened to him in the past. And then he turned to her, his red eyes flared.

"I just want a normal life after the shitstorms I have been through. That's all. I'm appreciate that you people let me in, sure I _might_ reconsider the offer, but I don't want to be part of your little bang of _warriors_. I prefer to take care of things myself and don't let me start with that little girl reading my mind. There is a thing called 'privacy' you know."

Maria silently cursed. He knew of Iris' power. Akira realized that he had let his emotion run wild so he grunted and left the area.


	4. Chapter 4

Akira and the new character's Battle Themes are **I Believe **and **Wish in the Dark **respectively.

* * *

Akira took off his shoes and placed them near the door. Inside the house, lights of blue and green were flashing through the thin wall. They came from the monitors of the large computer at the corner, which was being used by a young man in black boat and white shirt. He was typing nonstop, eyes glued at the screens.

"I'm home –"

"DON'T INTERRUPT GOD'S GENIUS WHEN HE'S WORKING!"

"Huh, sure." Akira dropped a bag of fruits next to his roommate. "Gifts from the geezer. Some of your favorites are inside."

"Just leave it there! I must complete this project. Tomorrow, they will attack and no one attacks _my _city!"

Akira sighed and went to the restroom. Once the genius was focus, it's useless to even start a normal conversation with him. Still, if his words were to believe, those monsters would make full debut. He had to stop them –

'No, Akira. Stop being a hero already. It killed you once.'

**What is done is done. Admit it, your rebellious spirit is still burning. You want a dramatic entrance. You want to destroy your enemy in the flashiest way possible.**

"Heh, right." His eyes glowed in red and yellow as he stared at the mirror, a faint silhouette of Arsene behind him.

* * *

Today was the big event and old man Uchida had called both Minato and Shinjiro up early to set up the banners. They, along with Jiro-san and other workers, had been working nonstop since 4am and even so, people still waited patiently before their store. Minato found it strange that it was 9am now and none of the Theater girls was here to pick up the drinks for the Manager.

'Weird.' He pondered while serving a guest with sake. 'Guess I will have to deliver it, again.'

"Monsters!" "Run!" "Help me!"

There were screams outside and people were running amok. The guests in the store soon got affected and were about to make a ruckus when Shinjiro yelled at them to stay calm and instructed Shingo, a fellow worker, to lead the guests to the back door. He nodded at Minato and both of them went upstairs for their gears.

"Wait, senpai."

"Huh?"

Minato pointed at the Mjoinir and Corpse Rod in Shinjiro's stash. "That will attract unwanted attention. Use something simpler."

"Tch, forgot about those girls. Right." He chose a wood-cutting axe with sturdy grip with a pair of fingerless gloves, both to protect his fists and to honor a certain boxer. Minato grabbed Sol Blade, a western sword with the symbol of sun etched on its hilt. This was the weapon he and _her_ had found together in one of their private hunts and while it didn't provide anything ground-breaking, Sol Blade was among the most special items to Minato.

"You done? Let's go. Castor is getting impatient."

Minato smiled; Thanatos was basically demanding to be unleashed. Evokers holstered and weapons ready, the former SEES members headed out to battle.

…

Akira saw the staff members heading to the basement, along with the new guy who was being dragged by Sakura, and smiled slightly; it's time. He told his senior worker to go ahead and went to the backstage. The genius had created a workaround burner phone that only he and Akira could access to. He flipped it open and dialed to the guy.

"You heard it?"

[Pff, I knew it before you did.] Akira could see the smug grin the genius was making at the other side. [But indeed, all is according to the plan. I'm already heading to the park.]

"Got it. See you later." Akira closed the phone and twisted his fingers in anticipation. A burst of blue flames engulfed him and took him away. At the corner, Maria's eyes widened in bewilderment. She was right about Akira hiding something from her and the others. She had to tell the Commander about this –

**Oh, what do we have here?**

A deeper, eerier voice of Akira spoke right next to her. Maria flinched and slowly moved her eyes to see perhaps the most disturbing face she had ever seen. Its face was a collection of hellish flames forming the organic parts inside a face mask and its attire was a crimson foreign suit; a pair of black wings on its back and its finger nails were sharp, adding more to its demonic look. The demon tapped his index finger on its temper.

**You can hear me! Normally I don't want to leave out a rat but it would kill the fun so go on, tell that old-timer about me and my other self. We will take great effort to make the hunt more interesting, thrilling and exciting.**

"Other…self? You mean, Akira Kurusu?"

**You catch up quick, I like that. **The demon chuckled devilishly and trailed its finger on Maria's face, unnerving. **I am starting to see why my other self considers you as his current most dangerous individual now. **Its 'eyes' darted to see someone's shadow moving toward them. "**As much as I want to toy with you right now, both of us have businesses to attend to. Till we meet again! Muhahahaha!**

With that, the demon disappeared in blue flames and Maria dropped to her knees, panting as if a huge ordeal had been lifted from her heart. Tsubaki arrived and reminded her that everyone was waiting for her to depart so Maria put it aside and went to the command center.

* * *

~Ueno Park~

"Hehehe…Terror, confusion, the government in disarray. Such a beautiful sight." A woman in a revealing kimono haughtily said atop of the Torii.

"The capital is ours, the Hive of Darkness, now." A boy in blue garb with his hair obstructing his eyes declared.

"Let us build a mountain of corpses as a warning to all that would oppose us." A bulky man in monk attire spoke, turning to the last of the group. "What say you, Satan-sama?"

"Do what you wish." Satan said, an evil smile on his face. "Though I doubt you will accomplish it easily. After all, today is to lure _them_ out."

"Ah yes, the troublesome brats." The woman added before her eyes widened. She shouted at the others to dodge a huge fireball coming from below. "Who dares!"

"What the hell, Minato? I thought your aim was second to Takeba back in the day?" Shinjiro inquired his teammate.

"I slipped up." Minato answered without a hint of embarrassment. He raised his sword at the group challengingly. "Come down and play already."

"You ask for it! Setsuna, with me!" The brute roared and pumped his chest. Setsuna readied his claws, glaring at the duo. At that moment, a big smoke was set off not too far from their positions. All eyes focused on the newcomers as when the smoke disappeared, four humanoid machines with questionable appearances, as Shinjiro said, were there.

"Stop right there!" The voice of the pink machine spoke up. Minato recognized that voice. The machines stood together and struck a pose. "Teikoku Kagekidan, Sanjou!"

"Prepare yourselves! We, the Teikoku Kagekidan, will not forgive what disturbs the peace of Teito!" The white one, which Minato assumed to be the leader, followed up and pointed its swords at the four. Satan smirked despite the situation and snapped his fingers. More Wakijis appeared and circle around the Kagekidan. He did not forget about Minato and Shinjiro, however.

"So it's that sort of thing, right? Very well! Teikoku Kagekidan, show me your strength!" He glanced at his colleagues. "Rasetsu, Setsuna, you can deal with the boys if you want. Today, we will gauge their powers and determine how much of a threat they truly are."

"Understood!"

"We won't disappoint you –" A bullet gazed Setsuna's cheek, stopping him mid-track. "Who?!"

A tall young man in a black ankle-length tailcoat with a black-and-white birdlike domino mask stepped out from the tree with a silver gun brandished, smoke coming from its barrel indicating he was the shooter. To intensify this fact, he fired again but not at the group but a Wakiji sneaking on him right at its core, resulting in its explosion.

"Who are you?" Sumire asked from her Koubu. The man suddenly laughed uncontrollably, astonishing those who witnessed this, before firing at her, prompting Sumire to use her naginata to deflect the shot. She was speechless at how it almost cracked her weapon.

"Who I am isn't your concern. I don't like your group, acting so mighty and courageous despite the fact that all of your victories were fraud. However," He returned his target at the Hive of Darkness. "I will put that aside and join force with you today. You can call me…Joker."

Minato mused; he definitely felt a presence of a powerful Persona from this Joker. Its power empowered the gun; that's why a conventional weapon like it could destroy a Wakiji.

"Man, too many expositions today." Shinjiro muttered tiredly. He readied his axe and jumped at Rasetsu. "Punk, you are mine."

"A test of strength! Very well, I accept!" Rasetsu said and intercepted Shinjiro's strike. Setsuna dove down at Minato, whose eyes became blue for a moment and thrust his sword forward. Joker entered the fray and went for the only female member of the Hive of Darkness, who summoned dark butterflies.

"I-I don't know what is going on but Kagekidan, spread out in Wind formation and eliminate the rest!" Ogami issued order and the others acknowledged. He and Sakura went ahead while Sumire and Maria moved to flank the Wakijis.

"How interesting…" Satan muttered as he memorized the abilities of this Kagekidan. A footstep behind forced him to draw his katana but there was no one to be found. "Show yourself!"

[**Mighty Action X!**]

* * *

~To be continued~


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